I just love that link I posted earlier. It's a hockey player database, and they actually have the gall to put his nickname on his page. I don't think our southern neighbors will be able to appreciate it as much as we do.

Nashville's best hope? Sell more tickets -- quickly -- to keep whoever ends up owning the Predators from escaping because of poor attendance. "Our Canadian friend thinks we can't sell 14,000 tickets ...," Butch Spyridon, president of the Nashville Convention and Visitors Bureau, said Friday. "I think he's underestimated us."

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The way things are going, there's no way they'll sell those tickets. They averaged under 14K in attendance over the past year. Hopefully the team will move to Ontario where they will get the proper fans. I wish they could get teams back to Quebec and Winnipeg. Under the new financial agreement they should be able to thrive.

Big move from Flyers: The Philadelphia Flyers acquired defenseman Kimmo Timonen and forward Scott Hartnell from the Nashville Predators on Monday, improving a team that finished last in the NHL. The Predators get a first-round pick -- the same one they sent to the Flyers to acquire Peter Forsberg -- for Timonen and Hartnell, who were to become unrestricted free agents July 1 but are close to signing with Philadelphia. Both players have reportedly agreed to six-year contracts with Philadelphia. Timonen's deal is for $37.8 million and Hartnell's for $25.2 million. link: ESPN - Flyers acquire Hartnell, Timonen from Preds for pick - NHL

Big move from Flyers: The Philadelphia Flyers acquired defenseman Kimmo Timonen and forward Scott Hartnell from the Nashville Predators on Monday, improving a team that finished last in the NHL. The Predators get a first-round pick -- the same one they sent to the Flyers to acquire Peter Forsberg -- for Timonen and Hartnell, who were to become unrestricted free agents July 1 but are close to signing with Philadelphia. Both players have reportedly agreed to six-year contracts with Philadelphia. Timonen's deal is for $37.8 million and Hartnell's for $25.2 million. link: ESPN - Flyers acquire Hartnell, Timonen from Preds for pick - NHL

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I wonder what Nashville is trying to do. Looks like they're clearing cap space.

The NHL free agent period started yesterday with a BANG. Dozens of big name stars have changed teams. Money is being handed over by the truck load.

Some of the biggest names on the move so far:

Daniel Briere to Philadelphia Chris Drury to the Rangers (Buffalo loses their top 2 centres the first day of FA) Scott Gomez to the Rangers Paul Kariya to the Blues Ryan Smyth to Colorado The Pens were active signing Petr Sykora and Darryl Sydor along with 3 others

Wings World moves: Brian Rafalski to the Wings Matthieu Schneider and Todd Bertuzzi to the Ducks

With the start of training camp less than two weeks away, the Kings on Tuesday added more Stanley Cup experience to their coaching staff, naming Dave Lewis an assistant coach. As a head coach, Lewis led the Detroit Red Wings to an NHL championship in 2002.

A former NHL defenseman who served as captain for the Kings from 1981-83, Lewis last season coached the Boston Bruins to a 35-41-6 record.

Kings Coach Marc Crawford, who led Colorado to a Stanley Cup title in 1996, said Lewis is "a perfect fit for our staff."

"We were interested in Dave taking a similar role with the Kings last summer before he accepted the head coaching job with Boston," he said.

For Lewis, who as an assistant and head coach with the Red Wings from 1988-2002 won three Stanley Cup titles, the goal is to help turn the Kings into a force in the league.

"I have some roots in L.A., I played out there during my career and my daughter was born in California," said Lewis, who has a 131-82-33 coaching record. "I'm excited for the opportunity to work with Marc, knowing him from the Detroit-Colorado days, and then in Vancouver, and I also worked with him at both All-Star games on the same coaching staffs.

"We got to know each other and built up a relationship over the years. I'm looking forward to having the opportunity to work with him, Mike Johnston and the rest of the staff to try and help the L.A. Kings do something they haven't yet, and that's win -- and win big."